


Another Day, Another Destiny

by Altered_Karma



Series: One Day More [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Expansion and Origins, I can see this being a short shot series, I don't know I just am rediscovering my love for them, Multi, Time Travel Shenanigans, and wanted to expand on my other fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:15:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23649061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Altered_Karma/pseuds/Altered_Karma
Summary: Back to the beginning.
Relationships: Kairi & Riku & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Sora/Riku/Kairi
Series: One Day More [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1702582
Comments: 3
Kudos: 10





	Another Day, Another Destiny

The plan started like this:

Sora wakes up in his bedroom on the Destiny Isles, or at least he thinks he does. The difference between the dreaming worlds and the waking ones has been less and less clearer over the years. It certainly looks like his bedroom, but maybe only if it had been his bedroom of five years ago. 

He hops out of bed - actually hops, instead simply stepping down like a normal, adult-sized person - only to find a much younger Sora staring out at him from the mirror, just as stunned as he feels. This Sora blinks at him with bright blue eyes, tanned skin, and stubby legs peeking out of shorts Sora had torn too many holes into years ago.

He grasps the mirror. “ _What_?”

He doesn’t know how long he stands there, trying to pick apart any flaws in his reflection, but when he finally rouses himself back into motion, his stomach is growling and his mom is calling out to him from the kitchen. “Sora, are you up yet?”

“Coming, mom!”

He eats with a haste he never learned to stow, and waves goodbye as he runs out the back door. 

When in doubt, Sora’s heart tells him to find Riku and Kairi first. Always, find Riku and Kairi.

He doesn’t have to go far; a quick paddleboat ride over to the play island, and he sees all of the old gang playing. Or well, he sees all of the old gang, and some of them are playing.

Sora’s never claimed to be the smart one, but even he can tell that something is off with the huddled forms of his two best friends. They’re crouched in the sand, tucked away from the others, and only at his yell do they finally look away from whatever it is they’re drawing in the sand. 

“Riku! Kairi!”

They jump to their feet in one motion, and not even time travel can erase the muscle memory that years of combat and training have branded into all of them, because the motion is way smoother and way more coordinated than anything they were capable of at that age. Which means....

That the two of them have come back with him. 

“Sora!” Kairi meets him halfway, leaping like a lion into his open arms. He’s not nearly strong enough in this age to support them, but sure enough, Riku’s got his arms and preventing their fall well before it becomes a problem. 

They still go down, of course, but it’s only with the permission of Riku’s grip.

Kairi starts babbling as soon as they’ve settled on the sand. “We weren’t sure- We woke up and were here-”

“About time you woke up, sleepy head.” Riku mocks. Kairi slaps his bare arm, and Sora gives them the cheesiest grin he can. 

“That’s my line, you jerk!” 

“It’s so great to see you guys!” Sora shakes the sand from his hair. “Uhh, how’d we get here?”

They both shrug, but their smiles are _achingly_ familiar and so carefree that he stops worrying. “I remember a flash of light, but… nothing that would really explain this.” 

He has so many questions; there are so many loose ends to wrap up, so many things that he needs to do, especially now that he’s been given a second chance to do them better, but…

Well, how can he worry, with them by his side. Kairi’s smiling bold, mischievous and strong and sturdy, someone who has always had his back and always stood at his side, a precious person he doesn’t ever want to let go of, even just for a moment like this. Riku, even now, is smiling at him, like a challenge and dare and promise, all wrapped up into one, and it makes Sora giddy enough to stop all his whirring thoughts, makes him want to leap at him and kiss him or fight him or- or-

Reunions have always struck at something deep in Sora’s core, and it’s no surprise to any of them when the tears well up and go streaking down his face. If they weren’t already on the ground, Sora’s sure they might’ve gone down again, but as it is, the others just crowd even closer, if that’s possible. Coming home has never felt so much like a “hello, good morning, I love you.”

Selphie looks like she’s going to come over though, so Sora pulls himself together and smiles, as much as he can. “So, want to race?”

“You’re on!”

“Count me in, too!”

It takes a couple days of winding down, of waking up with heartaches and headaches and confusion, before they really accept their new reality. Sora ends up sleeping over at their houses more than in his own bed, and their parents just shake their heads at the newfound closeness, but they don’t do anything to stop them. Sora’s never been so thankful for their home’s loose-handed parenting as he is now, as a time traveller from a time where he’s almost totally independent; not much has changed.

Well, okay, that’s not true. Everything has changed. All the years of toil and work have evaporated, and as much as the memory-memory remains, the muscle memory is gone. They have moments of occasional grace, like on the beach that first morning, but for the most part they’ve reverted back to the clumsy kids they were before the world turned upside down. 

Which means that their days of playfighting become a time to train themselves back up. Soon, they’re all challenging Selphie, Waka, and Tidus to three-on-one matches every chance they get, then doing so handicapped, until the three protest and refuse to fight them anymore. 

“No way, dudes! You’re way too much for us. Fight each other.”

“Yeah, besides, I gotta focus on my game if I wanna beat my old man!” 

So they’re back to square one of training together. But, hey, Sora can’t complain. The three of them were a force to be reckoned with before, but he knows how training with the same small number of people impacts one’s combat style. They were a force before, but if they can get into each other’s heads and sword arms as much as they are one another’s hearts, they’ll be downright _lethal_ when facing an enemy together. 

Sora can’t wait to smack Xehanort’s face with it.

“Oh, crud!” He exclaims, sitting up from his momentary break on the crooked tree. 

The other two snap up to look at him. 

“We forgot about Aqua!”

By the way the other two jump, the keyblade master hadn’t even crossed their minds.

That afternoon they spend pondering the question. Riku’s wary of changing the timeline too much, and none of them actually knows how to get into the realm of darkness right now, but they do figure out how to send a message.

“It’s better than nothing.” Kairi says, fingering the necklace she’d worn without fail all these years. 

“Hope is the best thing that we can give someone in that place.” Riku adds, and Sora nods. He remembers sitting on those dark shores, and how much the voice of a friend might have made things better. He’d never lost hope, but the reminders were always things he kept near to his heart.

Kairi’s the one with the bond to Aqua though, just like Riku has Terra and Sora has Aqua, so she takes charge of reaching towards Aqua’s heart with her own. 

It’s just as mesmerizing as their first journey. Kairi’s heart is truly made of pure light, unlike every other heart Sora’s ever gotten to meet, and the echoes of her strength and will swim in every river of light the flickers from her chest as she concentrates. Riku, when Sora can bring himself to glance at him, looks just as captivated, and Sora definitely knows the feeling; Kairi’s awesome.

The light fades before long, but Kairi’s frown is thoughtful instead of concerned. “I think she heard me.”

“Soooo, what now?” Sora starts counting off his fingers. “We’re training as hard as we can, and we’ve written down everything that’s happened that we can remember or know about, but neither Kairi nor I can use a keyblade right? Only Riku can. And we only get to use it because Riku went over to the dark side. Which,” Sora points a finger at Riku, “You are definitely not doing this time.

Riku snorts. “Whatever you say. I still don’t think we should change the timeline so drastically. But anyways, the keyblades. That’s easy.” He tows them over to the far side of the island, where the others can’t watch them, and places his hands on their shoulder. “I can’t give you my keyblade - I don’t even have it yet - but I can make it so that you can wield one.”

“Right. Perks of being a master.”

“Exactly.” The Bequeathing is still a little weird to Sora; it’s supposed to pass on a keyblade, but Terra could still use his after all, so Master Yen Sid and Eraqus must’ve been wrong about that. None of them can summon them, even after Riku’s done, but there’s less of a void in his chest now. 

Wait…

“Hey, I think I can feel Ventus. He’s deep asleep though.”

Riku snorts. “Well, that figures. Don’t you remember that night?”

Sora nods. He has a lot of debts to pay. 

But he has two hands to hold and guide him, and a second chance to right the wrongs of the past. The first step is…

“We have to make sure we’re ahead of Xehanort this time. _Every_ step of the way.”

They roll their eyes at him, but hey, stating the obvious is one of the things he’s best at! 

They watch the sunset together, and prepare for another day of work. The wheels of destiny cease for no heart, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Part 2! And I have a Part 3 in the works, but I need to finish 3D and KH3 and get some more lore bits before I can really flesh that one out.


End file.
